Animated Explanations – Explanatory Animations

Using Primary Sources - TeachersPrimary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience. Examining primary sources gives students a powerful sense of history and the complexity of the past. Helping students analyze primary sources can also guide them toward higher-order thinking and better critical thinking and analysis skills.

Top 100 Youtube videos for EFL!Youtube recently celebrated its 5th anniversary. Wow! See the video karaoke I made with Breakingnewsenglish content. However, today, in honor of youtube and what it does for our classrooms – I’ll leave you with a great gift.How can film help you teach or learn English?What can film and video add to the learning experience? Kieran Donaghy, who won the British Council’s Teaching English blog award for his post I want to learn English because…, explains why film is such a good resource, and recommends some useful websites. Language teachers have been using films in their classes for decades, and there are a number of reasons why film is an excellent teaching and learning tool.

Mandelbrot SetHere's the Wikipedia summary of the M-set. " the Mandelbrot set, named after Benoît Mandelbrot, is a set of points in the complex plane, the boundary of which forms a fractal. Mathematically, the Mandelbrot set can be defined as the set of complex values of c for which the orbit of 0 under iteration of the complex quadratic polynomial zn+1 = zn2 + c remains bounded. That is, a complex number, c, is in the Mandelbrot set if, when starting with z0=0 and applying the iteration repeatedly, the absolute value of zn never exceeds a certain number (that number depends on c) however large n gets. For example, letting c = 1 gives the sequence 0, 1, 2, 5, 26,…, which tends to infinity. As this sequence is unbounded, 1 is not an element of the Mandelbrot set. On the other hand, c = i gives the sequence 0, i, (−1 + i), −i, (−1 + i), −i…, which is bounded, and so i belongs to the Mandelbrot set.

ePals Global CommunityProject: Literature Circles Students work in small groups reading a novel and assuming various roles in the Literature Circle in order to demonstrate their understanding of the novel and share... Project: Email Exchange Students will engage in an ePals email exchange, practicing the skills of collaboration and communication while building friendships and learning about the daily lives and cultures of others around the world.

The Image Hollywood Created of AfricaAfter viewing Mama Hope's video, "Alex Presents Commando," Gabriel, Benard, Brian and Derrik (the Kenyan men in this video) told us they wanted to make one that pokes fun at the way African men are portrayed in Hollywood films. They said, "If people believed only what they saw in movies, they would think we are all warlords who love violence." They, like Mama Hope, are tired of the over-sensationalized, one-dimensional depictions of African men and the white savior messaging that permeates our media. They wanted to tell their own stories instead, so we handed them the mic and they made this video.

Kate Winslet and the little Australian anti-bullying film that took on the worldWhen one of Australian writer-director Galvin Scott Davis’ little boys was bullied he wanted to comfort him by reading him a book about overcoming bullies. But when he searched the well-stocked bookshelf in his bedroom, he couldn’t find one. So he turned to his own imagination and made up a story. “My middle boy was acting quiet and I found out that he’d been bullied. It wasn’t a bad case of bullying but it was enough to make him lose his confidence,” Davis told Guardian Australia from Los Angeles where he is on a promotional tour for his short film Daisy Chain.OED birthday word generator: which words originated in your birth year?Do you know which words entered the English language around the same time you entered the world? Use our OED birthday word generator to find out! We’ve scoured the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to find words with a first known usage for each year from 1900 to 2004. Simply select the relevant decade and click on your birth year to discover a word which entered the English language that year.

Mexican doodlesI never had a class that didn’t ask if I wear a kilt when I am in my country. I wonder if Mexican teachers working away from home get asked the same thing about sombreros. This is a silly game that I remember from my childhood. I really hope my Mexican friends forgive me for taking advantage of their national dress stereotype in the name of grammar teaching. Language level: Beginner (A1)Learner type: Young learners; Teens; AdultsTime: 20 minutesActivity: Grammar drillTopic: StereotypesLanguage: Noun phrases (with the –ing form of the verb)Materials: None Mexican doodles

Look UpThis EFL lesson is designed around a short film and poem by Gary Turk and the theme of isolation caused by the use of new technology. Students watch a short film with no sound and speculate about the story it tells, read a poem and discuss digital technology, social media and isolation. I would ask all teachers who use Film English to consider buying my book Film in Action as the royalties which I receive from sales help to keep the website completely free. Language level: Upper Intermediate (B2) – Advanced (C1) Learner type:Teens and adults Time: 90 minutesMay one stream a Netflix Video for in-class use?I have been asked more than once by a faculty member, may I stream Netflix videos to my classroom? Most Netflix videos, unless they are older films in the Public Domain, are protected by copyright. However, there are statutory exceptions that allow educators to show all or portions of films in an educational classroom. Title 17, Section 110(1) of the United States Copyright Act, for example, states educators may show a “performance… of a work… in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, unless, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the performance, or the display of individual images, is given by means of a copy that was not lawfully made under this title, and that the person responsible for the performance knew or had reason to believe was not lawfully made. What if you invite your class over to your house and stream a movie for educational purposes?

Forget John Lewis, this is the saddest Christmas ad you'll ever seeHandkerchiefs at the ready: the German supermarket chain Edeka has aired a Christmas ad that could top John Lewis’s “Man on the Moon” as this season’s biggest tear-jerker. In the ad, which has been viewed on YouTube almost 10m times, a lonely old man comes up with drastic measures to bring his family together: he fakes his own death. It starts with the man, played by British actor Arthur Nightingale, receiving a voicemail from his daughter telling him that, once again, the family won’t make it home for Christmas.

What’s on your mind?This EFL lesson is designed around a short film by Shaun Higton and the theme of Facebook. Students practise vocabulary related to social media, watch a short film, and talk about Facebook. I would ask all teachers who use Film English to consider buying my book Film in Action as the royalties which I receive from sales help to keep the website completely free. Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2)